Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Beckett scratched, here comes Pauley

No Josh Beckett tonight. The ace has a combination of a stiff neck and a bad cold. David Pauley has arrived from Pawtucket.

Does anyone remember the time Pedro was scratched at the last minute in 2003 with a lat injury and Bruce Chen was summoned and beat the Yankees that night? And great call by BoSox Brian on Casey Fossum coming through in August of that same Cowboy Up season when Pedro got sick.

No Jason Varitek tonight. The captain is still sick. Dustin Pedroia — yes, Dustin Pedroia — is the emergency catcher. To make room on the roster for Pauley, the Sox had to designate Joe Thurston for assignment. By the way, Manny Delcarmen was also sent home sick.

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Also back in 2003, Pedro was a late scratch in a series in late August against the A’s. Fossum took the hill that night. Red Sox won that night. Fossum hung in there pretty well.

Pauley when he is on, there will be alot of groundballs. He pitched a great game against the Yankees back in 2006. I think Pauley will do just fine tonight. He has no time to think about it. Also the Angels lineup isn’t potent.

I assume Beckett will be ready for his next start against the Rays on Sunday.

This is almost comical. I mean having Pedroia catch if Cash gets hurt — which seems unlikely at this point. Beckett sure has had his lumps and poor Jason. Feeling sick myself with a cold, I can understand what he’s going through (although I don’t have the flu). Now Manny Delcarman is sick. Good thing they’re at home!

Pauley’s night will be short. He looked so good the first 2 innings and then lost it. He just can’t seem to get the ball down for some reason. I thought he would do just fine, lol.

I guess Pauley will be riding the buses in the minors this year. A very dissapointing start for him. He showed he doesn’t belong in the big leagues. He has made 4 starts and 3 of them have been poor. A small sample but…..

I hope Colon can get healthy and make some starts with the Red Sox. Colon has a chance to contribute.

Pauley seems to be solid if he keeps the ball down. His big problem is location of his pitches — like most of the bullpen and Lester and Dice-K. Why is it so hard to find the strikezone anyway? I read an interview with an old-timer and he told me pitchers got started on apple throwing. You got a lot of bruises but you developed good aim because you had too.

Of course our memories of the Red Sox now are nothing but great memories. How many times did we watch games years back and the Red Sox were done. Not these guys. You get the feeling when the Sox are trailing, they have the team right where they want them.

I’m very impressed with Lugo lately, a great at bat in the 4th, drove in a run after a nice battle with Weaver. Lugo was safe, great play by the Angels s.s. though.

I agree on Tavarez, he needs more rest these days. And Lugo was robbed.
This team has a great spirit to it. Never say die. And I think some of that comes from the young guys, Pedroia especially. Don’t quit around him!

Did you hear all the references to Luis Tiant? It was great to hear him mentioned. I got to witness hit crazy motions in 75 and he really is one big reason that the Sox made the World Series in 75. In my opinion, the Sox would have won in 75 if Rice was in the lineup!

Oh and by the way, Ellsbury is on fire. Crisp needs to continue to heal and take his time!

I would agree it comes from these younger guys, Pedroia and Ellsbury. A great mixture of youth and vets. These young guys come right in and contribute right away. A great job by the minor leagues, the Sox front office as well. They do a great job in developing there minor league players. Moss tied the first game of the year with a homer in the 9th. I guess that was a sign for things to come.

Don’t blame Oki — Cash was pathetic in previous at bat, no respect for one who looks at 3 pitches with two runners in scoring position, 1 run game, doesn’t even swing – strikes out without even trying. Man that was hard to watch. Sure glad I am not the manager — Francona is amazing, how does he not fume at an non-effort like that.

Remy made an excellent point. Oki had a very tough set of batters to face and probably wore himself out. I did not see the at-bat by Cash, but I have to agree — swing at something. Just glad we’re out of the inning. Timlin will take the ninth. Can Ellsbury get # 3 for the night???

You are correct dgneubert but I think Remy is right. You get so caught up in the play you forget about your job.
I remember in 75 when Cecil Cooper hit a clear triple and Larry Barnett ruled it a home run. Later on Denny Doyle bobbled a grounder but Barnett called the runner out at second. That was a terrible call. Nevertheless, the Sox won the game against the Orioles and moved into the playoffs.
Then in game 3, we have the famous interference call where Jeronimo interferes with Carlton Fisk’s throw and Barnett does not call it interference and sure enough the Sox lose the game. That was painful.

I also feel for Coco. He comes across as a nice person, a hard player and one willing to push himself for the team. Francona sticks by his players and I am sure this is one BIG reason why player loyalty continues on this team. I remember the 86 Sox with Mac. He came across as someone who had one too many head injuries. Don Zimmer came across as someone who never left the army. Francona has got the great balance as a manager of being tough when he needs to be but loyal because that’s the atmosphere he needs to bring to the team. Nuff said.

I think starting pitching is coming around, Beckett missing his start, was unfortunate, looks like Lester and Buckholtz are getting stronger, I still think Schill might indeed provide a lift for the 2nd half of the season. Its still the middle relief, that is biggest question, but they each picked each other up tonight until we finally got to Pap. I don’t think you can pin 5 runs that Pauley gave up on Sox pitching (a call up with probably no notice whatsoever) – plus, he really only had the one bad inning — however, he looked like he had no confidence at all on the mound. I wonder where that pitcher that gave up only 2 runs against the Yanks go? Maybe he just needed more time prepare.

You can’t blame Pauley for a bad start. How could he prepare for that? Last minute call-up? And from what I could tell, the Angels really wanted to come into Fenway and get a win tonight. I can’t say why, it just seemed like they were determined to win.

But the Sox are ELECTRIC lately. I don’t think any team wants to play them. I’m enjoying this as much as I can! Savoring every minute and rolling the memories aroung my brain. This little run by the Sox is like a fine aged Bordeaux, a Montecristo #2 from Havana. These guys were supposed to be tired and wrung out from all the travel. Sox bloggers this past winter were speculating that the Sox might be at .500 or below because of the travel. Not too many people expected them to be giving us these thrilling victories night after night. Everyone chipping in. And Papelbon….100 MPH! The Angel hitters looked helpless tonight trying to hit that. Life’s good, Sox fans. Enjoy!

It is a great run, and all Sox fans should be enjoying this. One must be mindful however, that most of these guys will not end the season hitting for the average they are hitting for now. Most will cool off at some point. Hopefully by then, the pitching dominance many expected will kick in. Beckett is starting to look like he did last year. Hopefully, his stiff neck is a short-term thing. Buchholz looked much better against Texas…and Dice-K is looking as good as many commentators said he would in his 2nd year. And then there’s Wake, eating innings as always.

The one amazing thing about this is how it has been accomplished without any contribution from Mikey L. Last night on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, Pete Gammons said that Mikey has been stinging the baseball in batting practice. The one not-so-good thing about Mikey coming back is that Sean Casey has to sit down. What a heckova acquisition the Sox made. Thank you Detroit.

C’mon Dice-K, ring up another win tonight, so the Sox can chalk yet another series into the “win” column.

Its interesting that yet another member of the “Sox sent down” group. When Bryan Corey asked for his outright release, I thought he was gone for sure. I guess being part of the Redsox, even their farm system, is the best opportunity around.

Ellsbury and Pedroia were on base 7 times last night. Those 2 youngsters add alot of energy to the top of the lineup. Then you have the best duo in baseball to follow, good luck to whoever is on the mound.

I heard that Mike Lowell might go on a rehab assignment in the next week or so. Casey has been a great fill in. A year ago it was Hinske who was in that role, Hinske struggled all season. He had a few good games but not many.

Papelbon looked dominating last night. Angels were over matched. Any team coming into Fenway needs to play all 9 innings as if it is there last. This Red Sox team is beating the opposition in so many ways. The pitching will come around. I still would like too see another arm or two added.
Boston with the best record in the A.L. Safe to say the Japan trip is behind them. They are putting so much pressure on the Yankees and Blue Jays, those teams need to win to keep up with the Red Sox in the standings.

First, sorry to lose Tina. I loved her blog. She actually attended to it and gave off the impression she cared about her job. Sorry to see her in NY but Heidi should be interesting.
The Sox are on fire but I’m glad it was said that all bats do cool off. Pedroia can’t keep up with this streak. Eventually scouts will figure a way to shut him down. Ellsbury’s weakness for instance, is inside the plate, but he’s starting to adjust.
I hope Crisp stays out for a while. Ellsbury/Pedroia is the Rice/Lynn of 2008 right now (for those who remember that far back LOL).
I’m looking forward to Dice-K. He was — for a while — becoming their ace then the last two starts he went back to 3-2 counts and lots of walks and fouled off pitches. I just hope he can get his pitch efficiency up again. The Sox need him. He could be their 2nd Josh Beckett.

Also want to mention that Mike T. did a pretty good job last night. I guess it would be nice to see the bullpen be more consistent.
Anyway, I’m savoring the wins and am glad the Sox will finish April on a high note. No question in my mind that when Lowell got hurt it turned the team around because Casey’s bat came alive and saved them. That in addition to Coco getting hurt has really made the Sox a better offensive team.

Everyone has to be happy at this point… pretty much no contribution from Lowell, Ortiz, Schilling, and Cash… and we’re winning this much. We absolutely don’t need Crisp… should be able to pick up something in return. Kielty should be a serviceable backup.

bosoxbrian: actually did lol when I red your comment on the new Tina Cervasio — does Heidi start tonite?

Can I take any personal credit for this? — I sent a very articulate e-mail to NESN a week or so back complaining about this, telling them that guys just didn’t have the spark by them selves alone, etc. — I am sure it was that one e-mail that drove did the trick and drove them to act :)

Don’t sell yourself short. I am sure that an articulate and well written letter made NESN realize that a female perspective who offers intelligent insight into the game only adds to the excitement of a Red Sox win :)
Now I want from you all, if we did a trade, say Crisp what arm would you like on the team?

My second request is if you had to build the perfect Red Sox lineup using players from 1975 on, what would you choose?

Pedro in his prime with the Sox was all but unbeatable, better than Clemens, in my opinion. My favorite Sox SS was Rico Petrocelli, but was he gone by ’75?, I guess he was! If you have Rice and Ortiz as a right/left DH you’d have a great line-up. Or Rice as the 4th outfielder. Wait, how you you have Jim Rice as a 4th OF? He was the best hitter in the AL for 10 years! Tough call.

I know this is late notice, but if anyone on here who resides in Florida would like to get some tickets for Saturday’s game at Tampa Bay, let me know. My girlfriend, and a couple of friends who I usually go to the games with, cannot attend this weekend. I’m heading over on my own – likely for the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games. Feel free to drop me an e-mail at Sox and Pinstripes if we can get a small group together.

I guess when the Red Sox visited L.A. back in late March, she auditioned for the job. I am going to take a guess and say the question they asked her, Who won the World Series in 2007? lol.

Cervasio was a native of N.Y. and she had alot of passion for the game. This girl growing up on the west coast, what does she really know about the Red Sox anyway? Not much. I am in favor of someone that is knowledgeable not some pretty face on the tube. Erin Andrews is very attractive but at the same time she knows a thing or two. Just like Wendi Nix ( Ben Cherrington’s better half ) knows a thing or two about the sports world. This young lady, I have my doubts on totally. I hope she proves me wrong.

I am sure most out here will say I am anti female, well you are dead wrong on that. Andrea Kremer, Suzie Kolber among others do a great job. Lesley Visser was excellent as well. I can name several others as well.

I elected not to pick Pedro because I never liked his attitude but he was one tough pitcher. Rice was a killer for me because he was one tough player but Manny adds a lot of color to a lineup. I remember though one game in 75 when the entire infield was moved to the outfield to stop Rice. Rice then hits a home run!
Incidentally, Rico was incredible and moved to third base for 75. He hit a major blast of a homerun in game 2 against the Oakland A’s in the playoffs (when we just had one round and five games that is!). He also made a great save in game one of the World Series to end the game. Rico I think managed the Paw sox for a while but after that I’m not sure. I do miss his talent on the field but Burleson for me was so unique in his movements and a great ss even though he didn’t have great speed or hitting ability, he made up for it in his ability to have error free outings.

BoSoxBrian,
I would also agree on having some knowledge of the team and players besides a pretty face — because now that I’m married I never notice of course (just in case my wife is listening). Tina never came across as someone who was smart, charming and energetic but a bit oblivious to the Red Sox and New England.

Final note. Do you guys get the feeling that Jerry Remy does not like our esteemed host. There is of course a lot of bantering but I suspect the two of them have a polite relationship…but I could be wrong.

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